Man On Trial For Murder In Death On Expressway

November 30, 1995|By Art Barnum, Tribune Staff Writer.

It started out ordinarily enough, the day that ended with what prosecutors call murder.

On Sept. 7, 1994, Cozette Jones, 28, and her brother, Albert Weems, 27, set out from their homes on the South Side of Chicago for the long drive to their jobs in Elgin. Meanwhile, Arthur Soteras, 31, of unincorporated Palatine, was on an errand delivering flowers to a Near North Side apartment.

As his trial began Wednesday, it was up to DuPage County Circuit Judge Ronald Mehling to sort out what happened--and maybe even why. There are two vastly different versions.

Assistant State's Atty. David Bayer insisted in the Wheaton courtroom that what happened was "not an accident, not negligence, not just reckless. He chose to intentionally ram the car of Jones and he accomplished nothing less than first-degree murder."

Bayer said that at about 1:30 p.m. Jones and Weems, heading to their jobs at an Elgin fast-food restaurant, were in the westbound lanes of the Eisenhower Expressway near Des Plaines Avenue when the Firebird driven by Soteras cut abruptly in front of them.

There was an exchange of vulgarities and gestures, and both cars pulled over onto the shoulder of the road.

Weems said that he and his sister walked to Soteras' car, where, he said, they were sprayed with what they believed to be Mace. He said the Firebird then sped away.

Weems said he and his sister got back into the Geo, and he took over driving.. But 13 miles later, on the expressway near Mill Road in Wood Dale, there was another confrontation with Soteras.

Weems said he saw Soteras pull up alongside the car he was driving. spray a substance at it and then hit the Geo from behind, causing it to veer off the road and flip over several times. Jones was killed; Weems was severely injured.

After an investigation by the Illinois State Police, the DuPage County state's attorney's office obtained a murder indictment against Soteras from the county's grand jury.

But Ernest DiBenedetto, the attorney for Soteras, insisted Wednesday that while his client "made mistakes, errors of judgment, he had no criminal intent."

In fact, DiBenedetto insisted, it was Soteras who was the initial target of behind-the-wheel rage.

DiBenedetto acknowledged that Soteras initially cut off Jones' car, but he said that when both vehicles pulled onto the shoulder, Jones and Weems approached Soteras with parts of a metal steering wheel lock in their hands. The lawyer said Soteras "sprayed them out of his own fear."

Soteras also said that as he sped away from that initial confrontation, Weems struck his car with the metal lock. His lawyer said that Soteras stopped for gas in Maywood, noticed his car was damaged and became upset.

A short while later, Soteras saw the Tracker again. "He wanted to talk to them about the damage" DiBenedetto said.

According to the lawyer, Soteras hit Jones' car from behind because Weems braked directly in front of him.

"It wasn't a ram, not a push, a minimal one-second contact that occurred after Weems braked and Soteras couldn't avoid it," DiBenedetto said.

DiBenedetto conceded that Soteras made another mistake when he fled the accident scene. Soteras was pulled over in northwest Cook County by police who had been alerted to look for the Firebird.

If Mehling finds Soteras guilty of murder, he could receive a sentence of up to 60 years in prison.